Announcing Some Big Changes to Thurrott.com

I am very excited to announce some big changes here at Thurrott.com that will impact both our Premium and non-Premium readers.

First, the best news of all: We have hired Mehedi Hassan as our new Senior News Editor. If you’re unfamiliar with Mehedi, he’s been writing about all things Microsoft for years, most recently at MSPoweruser. He has a keen eye for news, plus extensive developer experience as well.

This is a big deal on a number of levels. And it goes back to our original goals for the site.

Our intention all along was for Thurrott.com to be a team of equals. But I’ve been carrying the torch for a while now, reporting on the news as it happens, providing analysis when warranted, reviewing hardware and software products, researching and writing tips and how-to’s, and more. And, of course, our Premium membership, which requires me to further divide my time between Premium and non-Premium content. Just deciding which content should be Premium, or not, is difficult. I need help.

But I’ve often pointed out how hard it is to find people who can deliver on the high quality that you and I both expect. Brad is such a person, of course, and so is Rafael. But both also have to focus elsewhere besides Thurrott.com—Brad at Petri, and Raf at his day job—leaving me as the primary content creator here.

Mehedi is the missing piece of the puzzle. And I am so happy to welcome him to Thurrott.com. He will be delivering the news every day going forward. This is great for readers: He’s more prolific than I am, but he still provides the type of analysis—the perspective—that places Thurrott.com above the copy-and-pasting that most blogs do these days. There will be more news on Thurrott.com each day than ever before.

Tied to this is an ongoing concern that our team has had about Thurrott Premium and whether we are providing enough Premium content. Put simply, we are not. So, I will be focusing largely on fixing that problem and providing more value to those readers who think highly enough of us to pay for our work.

That is, most of what I write on Thurrott.com going forward will be exclusive to Premium members. However, my reviews and interviews—both of which I will be expanding on—will remain open to everyone. And I’ll still appear on podcasts—First Ring Daily, What the Tech, and Windows Weekly—and on Twitter each day, of course. I’m not going anywhere. (Sorry, Apple.)

I will reach out to Premium members soon via email and a forum post to discuss the content strategy and ensure that I’m delivering what you expect and want. We have some ideas, of course, and we value your feedback too. Together, we’re going to get this right.

I also understand that many non-Premium members will be concerned about their access to me. But I have some good news for you as well.

And second, we are opening the First Ring Daily podcast to all Thurrott.com readers. That is, going forward, First Ring Daily will no longer be exclusive to Premium from Monday through Thursday. (The live show on Friday has always been open to everyone.) We will continue to record the show five days a week, and the Friday show will continue to be live.

This is good news for everyone, including Premium members. Many users have struggled to get the podcast working with their favorites apps because of the paywall block. That will no longer be an issue because First Ring Daily will not be blocked going forward. And while we enjoy making the podcast, it has evolved into a casual, conversational get-together. That is, it’s great, but it’s not necessarily “premium.”

Also, those who are familiar with First Ring Daily will probably agree that the very best part of this show is the comical “Behind the scenes” videos that Brad makes after each of our big trips. Those videos will remain exclusive to Thurrott Premium. It just makes sense.

This is a big day for all of us. It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a long time.

And bringing Mehedi and First Ring Daily to non-Premium members is a win for everyone who visits this site. Everyone gets more content, and I can finally deliver on the Premium membership we’d always envisioned and wanted. It’s exciting and scary, for sure. But I think we’ve found the right way forward. And I’m eager to get started down this new path.

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